There's a lot of different narratives to describe what's happening. The common one from the US media and politicians is that North Korea is a rogue nation, they need to be disciplined, they need to give up their weapons, we've got to get them to acquiesce - then they can join us in the civilized world. Another narrative is that Korea is one nation, it's long been exploited by foreign militaristic powers, ravaged by a horrible civil war, and they're struggling to be free of colonialism - and reunification is the final step... In the long duration of history, maybe that second narrative is really a more accurate one.